This Secondhand September, the national homelessness charity Crisis has worked with 12 independent makers and designers in a bid to answer the question: what happens when secondhand clothes don’t sell.

The designers were invited into Crisis’ warehouse in Canning Town to select unsold donated garments that would ordinarily move on to textile recycling as part of the charity’s UNSOLD. RETOLD campaign.

Their brief was to give these pieces a new chapter. The result is a series of limited collections in which existing garments have been cut, reconstructed, woven, embellished, printed, painted and transformed into completely new pieces – all to celebrate the creativity, individuality and self-expression that can emerge from what already exists.

Liz Choonara, executive director of commerce and enterprise at Crisis, said: “Some brilliant clothes simply don’t find their person the first time around, whether that’s because of its size, style, season, location or simply chance. That is why UNSOLD. RETOLD. is all about asking what else they could become.

“We’ve given an incredible group of makers the freedom to play, experiment and put their own identity into garments that had reached the end of their retail journey with us. What they’ve created shows that existing materials can be the starting point for something completely original. ”

Crisis has partnered with London-based strategy and design studio Dalziel & Pow to bring the UNSOLD RETOLD campaign to life across the store environment and brand identity for wider communications.

The campaign forms part of Create for Crisis, the charity’s ongoing maker collaboration programme. All sales from the collections will be split with 50 per cent going towards Crisis’ work to end homelessness, and 50 per cent to the maker.

Choonara added: “This campaign comes at a time when there is a window of hope and opportunity for people experiencing homelessness. The Prime Minister’s commitment to end rough sleeping is a hugely welcome step towards ending all forms of homelessness.

“This is also a moment to think differently about charity retail and the ways we can innovate to make the most of every donation – giving clothes a second chapter while raising vital funds to support Crisis’ work to end homelessness.”

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